Broken Hearted Disease
by AngelxofxAlchemy
Summary: Ed's broken his automail...again. Winry's going to be furious, that is if she has the strength to! How will Ed react to a bed-ridden Winry? EdxWin and some very slight RoyxRiza. R&R! Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1: Heading Home

Broken Hearted Disease

The sun pierced through the sky as midday hit the small train station. A young man of about 16 stood with a suit of armor that was a good 2 feet taller than himself.

"Damn it," mumbled the blonde-haired alchemist, "what's taking the train so long?" If he could have, Alphonse would have rolled his eyes. It was about the tenth time that his older brother had shown just how impatient he could get.

"It will be here soon, brother," Al said comfortingly. "We'll be home in no time." Normally, Ed wouldn't be in such an all-fire hurry to get home if his right arm hadn't been rendered useless, making it dead weight on his already exhausted body. Sure, Winry would kill him, but automail conducts heat, and in the weather they were exposed to, it was bad news.

"This never would have happened if that Bastard Mustang hadn't assigned me to round up those chimeras," Ed mumbled, inwardly cursing the Colonel. "Those beasts trashed the nerves." Which was true, and thankfully the pain had subsided. Tearing nerves wasn't pleasant.

The brothers continued to look in the direction that the train would undoubtedly be coming from. A few moments later, they spotted a small grey speck in the distance, causing Ed to nearly jump for joy.

"Yes, about time!" he shouted, picking up the suitcase that he had previously been sitting on. "Next stop, Risembool!" Al was excited to be home again as well, but not exactly for the same reasons that his elder brother was. He wanted to go back and see the people that he considered family. Although, he had his suspicions of how Winry and Ed felt about each other. He figured everyone knew how they felt except the duo in question. He stayed out of it however, figuring it would resolve itself when the time came.

While Al was lost in his thoughts, the train had traveled so that it was barely 20 feet away from them. Ed smiled gratefully as it pulled to a stop and the doors opened, revealing the nearly empty train car. A broad smile graced Ed's lips, as this meant that he could sleep on the way without having to listen to the annoying and useless chatter of other passengers. Not to mention that it would be a good 14 hours before they would see the rolling hills and flocking sheep of Risembool.

Once in an available seat by the window, Ed placed his suitcase on the floor and stretched his legs out so that they took up the whole seat. Even if the train hadn't been empty, he wouldn't have made room for anybody. He was tired as hell, and needed an at least half-way comfortable nap.

Just as expected, as soon as the train began to roll, the soft motions caused Ed to lull to sleep, almost like a baby. However, he was quickly awoken by a man speaking to the passengers through an intercom.

"Attention," he began, "this train only makes 2 stops today; One in central and one in Risembool. If we happen to pick up members of the military and seats run out, you must surrender your seat to them, despite what rank they are. That is all."

Ed rolled his eyes dramatically and heaved a sigh. "Just another way for the military to exploit their ranks," he mumbled. "Damn people and their power trips." It wasn't hard to tell that Ed was in a sour mood. Not only was he dead tired from the lack of sleep from the past week, but he had just gotten comfortable when the oh-so-important announcement had come on.

After a few more moments of scowling and repositioning his right arm to be comfortable once again, he fell back into a still half-way decent sleep.

When he awoke, Ed noticed that it was the middle of the night. He checked his pocket watch and it read 3:30 am. He closed it once again and put it back into his right pocket, which proved to be a slight challenge using his left hand.

"Oh, you're awake," said Alphonse who had been gazing out the window, considering he couldn't sleep. Ed nodded silently in response and stifled a yawn.

"Yeah," Ed added, "we should be home in about 6 hours; we haven't even stopped in central yet, have we?" As if on cue, the train began to slow down and the central station came into view. Unfortunately for Ed, there were actually a few dozen soldiers waiting to board. That struck him as odd, considering the time.

After a few moments, the train came to a stop and the doors opened with an audible squeak. The officers made their way on to the train, some with pocket watches and some without.

"What are they doing traveling at this time of night?" Ed asked, voicing his thoughts. Al shrugged in response, his armor rattling against itself. The soldiers continued to flood in through the doors.

Ed brought his attention back to the station to see if any more soldiers would be gracing them with their presence. Thankfully, there weren't. So, Ed closed his eyes once more, hoping the train wouldn't run out of seats, though he figured it wouldn't since it was pretty decent in size. His attempt to get some shut-eye was once again interrupted though.

"What a coincidence Fullmetal," came a voice above Ed's head. Hoping that it was just a terrible nightmare, he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Hello Sir," greeted Al, who didn't have nearly as much resentment for him. The man spoke again.

"Hello Alphonse," he replied, "What, is Ed pulling the silent treatment over one assignment?" he asked condescendingly. Ed's brow twitched noticeably.

"Shut up Mustang, I don't see you out there getting your limbs busted," Ed sneered, his voice clipping. Roy chuckled under his breath.

If you had been more careful," he began, a cocky smirk on his lips, "you wouldn't have gotten hurt." Ed clenched his one good fist, ready to send it hurling through the Colonel's teeth.

"Just drop it," ordered Ed in response, clenching his teeth as well. "What are you and the rest of these soldiers doing here anyway? The train only makes one more stop, and that's in Risembool," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Well," answered Roy, "that's where we're heading." At this, Ed's eyes snapped open, his body visibly tensing.

"And why is _that?_" Ed questioned, the anger apparent in his voice. Roy remained calm as he answered however.

"People have reported some stray chimeras around the area, we're going there to round them up." He held on to the back of the seat as the train began to move once more, the whistle blowing and carrying in the breeze. Roy took a seat next to Al, knowing that he wouldn't mind nearly as much as Ed would.

The elder brother rolled his eyes, clearly not believing the Colonel. "Why would you need an entire army to round up a few chimeras?" Ed questioned, the disbelief apparent in his tone. Roy took a deep breath and lowered his voice so that it was barely above a whisper.

"Alright, here's the deal," he began. "The chimeras that you were in charge of are vastly different than the ones that we're after. They're carrying life-threatening diseases. If they attack animals, they'll get it as well. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it pretty likely that people in Risembool will come in contact with animals?"

Ed remained silent, his eyes burning with concern. "Why is it that whenever something happens, even if it effects me, I'm always the last to know?" Ed asked, his voice low and infuriated. He hated being left out of all of the latest news, especially if it was important. It had been the same way when Hughes had passed away..

"You have to understand, Ed," lectured Roy, "you may be in the army, but you're still just a child." He knew that Ed didn't want to hear it, but it was true. Sure, the young alchemist had been through hell, but maturity and experience didn't always go hand in hand. However, Ed surprised the Colonel by keeping his cool.

"Do what you want Mustang, just take care of the problem," ordered Ed with an unusual amount of authority for someone who was speaking to their superior officer.

Roy nodded in agreement and Ed closed his eyes once more, hoping to get a non-interrupted sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: A Rude Awakening

**I can't believe I didn't put this in the first chapter! **

**I don't ** **own Fullmetal Alchemist, all of the characters belong to the cow!**

**~*~**

**Chapter 2: A Rude Awakening**

As Ed slept, he heard voices deep within his subconscious. Somewhere within his mind, he knew who was speaking.

"Jeez, how long does he need to sleep?" asked a deep voice that he recognized as the Colonel.

"Well, he kind of sleeps for two. It's the same way with his appetite, he's also eating my share," replied a hollow voice that was undoubtedly Alphonse. Roy grunted softly in understanding.

"Maybe the shrimp should get more nutrition in all of that food he inhales." Ed's eyes opened wide as if he hadn't been sleeping at all.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE COULD STICKTO THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SHOE AND YOU WOULDN'T EVEN NOTICE IT?!"

Roy had covered his ears for most of it, knowing that it would be coming. The other passengers looked over momentarily, but turned away quickly, fearing that he was a lunatic. "Oh, you're awake," stated the Colonel nonchalantly. Ed's breath was staggered as he fought the urge to kill.

"I _really_ hate you," sneered the now enraged Edward. Roy merely smirked and gazed out the window. Al fidgeted a bit in the uncomfortable silence that followed.

"So," he began in hopes of lightening up the mood, "where's Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Roy shrugged in response, mainly because he knew that she wasn't in any danger.

"I lost sight of her when I boarded; the crowd was massive," he said in a very relaxed way. He knew that he would hear about it from his subordinate later, so he didn't want to think about it anymore than he needed to. Ed chuckled slightly, breaking the Colonel away from his thoughts and causing him to glare daggers at the young man. "What's so funny?" he asked, clearly irritated.

"You managed to lose your babysitter, huh?" Ed asked only half-jokingly. If at all possible, Roy's eyes narrowed even more. He hated when people would under mind his authority, especially when they did it by referring to Hawkeye as anything but his subordinate.

"Quit while you're ahead, Fullmetal," he mumbled almost like a child. Ed released one last snicker before sitting up in his seat.

"We should be home any minute, Al," he said to his brother who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, anytime now," Al replied, getting excited to see the Rockbells. "I hope Winry's not too mad." He gazed at his brother's arm, noting that it at least came back in one piece this time.

"Oh, she'll be beside herself with anger Al, you know how she is," Ed replied with a bored expression. "I'll be a lot worse for the wear by the time she gets to working on my arm." Al stifled a chuckle, mainly because he knew that it was true. They had both come to know that every time that wrench of Winry's would come into contact with Ed's skull or Al's armor, it was only out of concern.

Just as expected, they arrived at the train station a little bit north of Risembool. Ed and Al stood and began to make their way to the door, hurrying to get there before the mass of soldiers did. Once off of the train, they slowed their pace. Al turned to see where the Colonel had gone and spotted him as well as Lieutenant Hawkeye. By the looks of it, the superior was being sternly lectured, probably about not getting separated, considering who could have been on the train.

Ed looked in the direction that Al seemed to be focused on and chuckled. "Whipped," he mumbled under his breath, turning his attention back to the path. Al followed closely behind as they made their way to the place that they had both come to accept as home.

At last, after a good 15 minutes of walking, the house of the Rockbells came into view. Ed's glance fell to his busted arm and he got a sudden feeling of fear within the pit of his stomach. The first time they come back in a while, and it's only because he needed something. That's how it always was. He couldn't wait for the day when he would return because he and Al were back to normal.

"Well," began Ed, "we're here." He heaved a sigh and turned his attention back to the house, as if he expected a wrench to come flying at his head, even from the distance away he was from the house.

"Relax brother, I'm sure they'll be happy to see us, we haven't been home in a while," soothed Al. He was more or less trying to convince himself more than his brother. Ed nodded weakly and continued up the path, his pace much slower. His feet felt like lead, both of them, not just the metal one. His right arm seemed to weigh on him even heavier than before.

Once at the door, the elder brother put on a braved face in and puffed out his chest in an attempt to look like he wasn't scared out of his wits. He raised his one good hand, which was holding the suitcase, and used it to knock on the door 3 times. He figured that even if it was too early for them to be awake, which he doubted, Den would begin to bark, and Pinako would wake up.

The dog did begin to bark, but by how quickly the old woman told her to shut up, he figured that she couldn't have been sleeping. A few moments later, the short elderly woman opened the door, a small smile creeping up on her lips when she saw who it was.

"Well," she greeted, "if it isn't our cash cow. What did you break this time?" Ed put on a sarcastic smile.

"What?" he replied with fake innocence. "Can't a guy come home once in a while just to come home?" Pinako raised an eyebrow.

"Not you," she answered, making her way into the house, Ed and Al following. It was unusually quiet, which struck Ed as odd. Usually, Winry was tinkering in some new advancement in automail.

"So," Ed began casually, still looking around, "where's the machine freak?" Pinako looked up at him and then back down.

"She's upstairs, she seems to have contracted some kind of illness," she replied, a tinge of worry in her voice. Ed's eyes widened at her explanation.

"What do you mean?" he asked, desperately trying to hide the panic in his tone. However, his concern and morbid curiosity got the best of him, causing him to drop his suit case and dash up the stairs.

"Edward!" called Pinako after him. The last thing she wanted was for him to disturb Winry if she was trying to rest. She was ignored however, and sighed as she went to prepare some tea for everybody.

Ed resisted the urge to bust into the room and make sure that she was okay. He stood at her door, his heart racing and his breath shallow. He was almost afraid to open the door, and it frustrated him that he couldn't decide between the two extremes.

He attempted to suck in a deep breath and exhaled shakily, taking hold of the doorknob with his left hand since he still had no use of his right. Slowly, he turned the knob counterclockwise and pushed it open. It didn't squeak at all, considering Winry would never allow anything mechanical to go without oil.

When he peeked his head in, he was awe-stricken at the sight. There, lying in bed, completely fragile and defenseless, was Winry. The covers were pulled up to her waist and her chest rose and fell rather rapidly considering the trouble that she was having breathing through her nose. Her hair lay slightly tangled on the pillow, framing her face that was paler than usual.

Ed made his way over to the bed gracefully, taking special measures to not make his left leg make any noise. He was by no means _used_ to seeing Winry look so frail. Usually by now, he would have a wrench to his head for all of the hard work that he had ruined. Though he had to admit, even that would be better than seeing her in this state.

Once next to the bed, he pulled up a nearby chair that he figured Pinako had put there so that she could watch over Winry. He didn't want to disturb her, but at the same time, he wanted to see her open her eyes. So, he carefully and lightly shook her shoulder.

"Winry," he whispered softly, "hey, can you hear me?" He waited a few moments and surely enough, her eyes fluttered open. After her vision adjusted so that she could see who it was, she smiled.

"Ed, what are you doing here?"she asked, her voice scratchy and strained. He was nervous about telling her that he had once again gotten his arm busted, but he really couldn't get around it. He used his left hand to hold up his right, a sheepish grin on his face.

Her smile dropped into an unamused frown. If she hadn't been so weak, he would have a black eye. "What happened to my masterpiece this time, Edward?" she asked angrily, her voice low.

Ed laughed nervously. "Well," he began, "I had to handle these chimeras and well, they sort of," he paused, "disconnected the nerves."

Winry's jaw dropped and she sat up straight in bed. "What do you mean they _disconnected_ them?!" she exclaimed before going into a coughing fit. Ed's expression went from extreme fear to concern. He would have pat her on the back if he could have reached it.

"Are you alright?" he asked calmly, only wanting her to relax and cursing himself for making her condition worse. She coughed a few more times then lied back on her pillow, holding her pounding head and breathing shallowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now, let me see your arm," she ordered. Ed's eyebrow arched.

"But you're sick," he reminded her, "I'll just have the old hag do it." He laughed slightly, trying to cheer her up. Winry just shook her head and smiled.

"I'm fine Ed," she replied, "I'd rather work on your arm then keep lying in bed." Ed looked at her doubtfully but shrugged, using his left hand to set his right one on her lap.

She looked it over, getting a general look at what she was in for. From what she could see, it was a good hour of work, and that's only if his leg didn't need adjusted too.

"Yeah," she said, still examining it, "they really did a number on it." She reached over to her night stand and grabbed a few tools. A normal girl would have jewelry, perfume, even makeup. Winry however, had wrenches, bolts, oil, screwdrivers, and various other tools that she had stored under her bed.

Picking up the pliers and the screw driver, she took the main plate covering off and began to pull on wires that would normally be attached to nerves.

"Well," she started, "normally this would be extremely painful for you, but considering you're not feeling anything, I'm going to have to reattach every single nerve individually, which unfortunately will be painful."

"Great," Ed replied sarcastically, "will it be as bad as automail surgery?" Winry shook her head not looking up from her work.

"I don't think any kind of pain is as bad as that, Ed," she pointed out solemnly. As she pulled at wires, she recalled how painful it had been for her to watch Ed go through hell on that operating table. She could still see the fire in his eyes when he had told her to give him an arm and a leg.

While Winry was lost in her thoughts and her work, Ed had to focus on the urgent matter, and that was finding out if Winry had the disease that the Colonel had mentioned. It was a rather large setback that he hadn't bothered to ask what the symptoms were.

"So," he started, deciding how to put his concern into the right words, "how long have you been sick?" She used the heel of her hand to rub her eye and clear her mind.

"About two weeks," she replied, pulling at the rest of the wires. "Why do you ask?" Ed shrugged his left shoulder to avoid messing up her work. He didn't want to make her worry; she had enough to worry about every time he came home hurt. Needless to say, he was nervous about his next question.

"Winry," he began unusually urgently, "have you been around any animals lately?" This time, Winry looked up at him with an inquisitive look.

"Why do you ask?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow at his strange behavior. Ed became frustrated, mainly with himself.

"It doesn't matter why," he answered her rather harshly. Winry, sick or not, was never one to just lie down and be talked to like that though.

"Yes it does Ed," she retorted, placing a hand on her hip. "It matters because a while ago, I took some of the local children to a petting zoo."


	3. UPDATE PLEASE READ

**I'm sorry that I have yet to update this story in a rather long time. I actually have it written out, I just have to find it. As for my other story, "A Chance at Happiness", I'm going to be updating today most likely. As for "Home for the Holidays", I'm afraid that it's been discontinued until further notice. Thank you for your cooperation, I'm sorry to you all, life has been hectic~**

**Much love.**

**AngelxofxAlchemy**


	4. Chapter 3: Don't Give Up

**Dear lord, it's been forever since I updated! For that, I apologize to all of my loyal watchers, I've been swamped with work, but the glorious summer has come! I shall be updating "A Chance at Happiness" as well. Enjoy! **

**(I own nothing!)**

Ed didn't know what was moving faster, his heart or his mind. Either way, the pounding was making him sick.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his throat dry. Winry seemed a bit more worried about her "little cold" now.

"About a month ago, I took a few children to the petting zoo as a favor to their parents," she answered, her stomach burning from the worry that was now coursing through her veins.

"Have you seen those kids since?" he persisted, stumbling over his words. Winry thought about it for a second before shaking her head.

To keep from dashing out of the room and getting a doctor, he took a deep breath. "Alright," he said calmly enough, "after you fix my arm, I'm going to contact these kids' parents. Don't worry Winry, at least not yet. I just want to confirm something about the illness that you may or may not have."

Winry's gaze dropped back to his automail, a frown on her lips. "I know, Ed," she stated simply, beginning her work once again, "I know about the disease being carried by the animals around here. I found out about it about a week after I took the kids to the zoo."

Ed's mind was so many places at once, he didn't even know how to form a proper sentence, let alone speak one. Seeing this, Winry continued.

"The way I see it, either I have it or I don't. If I don't, that's fantastic, but if I do," she paused, trying her best to keep her cool, "then there's nothing I can do. I didn't want to believe that the disease was real, but if you've heard about it, it must have something to do with the military. Maybe biological warfare gone wrong..."

She pulled at a few wired, finding the nerves that they matched and reconnecting them.

Ed flinched, both at the nerves being connected and what Winry had said. She was okay with having a potentially fatal disease? There was nothing she could do?

"Look," began Ed, a tinge of anger in his voice at her willingness to just throw in the towel and give up her life, "no matter what you have, I know that you can fight it off. Besides, I could probably get some research on medicinal alchemy. If this thing was born from alchemy, that's how we'll destroy it." There was no way in hell he was going to let this damn _military-made_ disease take the life of his best friend.

Winry stopped at her work and her shoulders visibly slumped. "Ed," she began, "I've already seen a doctor. He said that there was no known cure, alchemical or otherwise." She held back the tears that were fighting to escape her azure eyes.

Ed clenched his teeth. The last thing he wanted to do was make Winry cry for the thousandth time. He gazed at her slumped over form and began to look for reasons why this was his fault. That was what he had always done when faced with a problem that seemed hopeless. Placing the blame on himself gave him the determination he needed to push forward and fix it.

Winry took a deep breath and continued with her work. After a few moments of less than comfortable silence, she spoke. "The doctor gave me a month," she said, her voice nearly void of emotion. "That was about two weeks ago. Before," she paused, "well, you know, he said that I'll go into a comatose state, so I won't feel any pain." She swallowed hard, as discussing her own death proved rather difficult.

Suddenly, Ed placed his left hand over Winry's own two hands, causing her to look up from her work and right into two golden eyes, burning with determination. Her pulse speed went up and a small blush crept up on her face.

Every muscle on Ed's body was tense. "Listen to me," he demanded, his voice shaking slightly, "as it is, I had to watch my mother die because there was nothing I could do. I won't sit by another person that I care about and wait for the worst."

Winry's heart was pounding inside of her chest so hard that she thought that Ed could surely hear it. "Ed," she began, but was interrupted.

"No Winry," he objected sternly, "there's no way I'm letting that disease take you away." Winry knew this tone. It was the one that he used when a heard of wild horses couldn't stop him until he achieved his goal. So, she simply smiled.

"Alright," she told him, "you can look for a cure. Just don't lose sleep over it, okay?" He nodded, though that was a lie. He would stay awake for days at a time if he needed to in order to find the cure.

The minutes passed and after a good hour or so, she had finished working on Ed's arm. He stretched it out and moved the joints, smiling at its functioning state. Winry smiled as well, seeing her work and taking much pride in it.

"Now," he began, his determination practically coursing through his veins, "I'll go and try to find the Colonel and get this figured out. In the mean time, you stay here and rest, got it?" If he knew Winry, she would get up as soon as he left and start working on some of her damn automail.

She rolled her eyes and gave a sarcastic salute. "Yes sir," she mumbled, pulling the covers back over herself and closing her eyes. Ed smiled at how childish she could be sometimes, even if she was sixteen years old.

Making his way out of the room, his face sobered a bit. "Don't give up, alright?" he pleaded, causing Winry to open her eyes. Before she could answer him however, he had already left the room.


	5. Chapter 4: Betrayal or Something Like It

**What? What's an update, I have no idea what you're talking about, guys... -shot-**

**Alright, with Senior year kicking me in the head, I haven't had time to breathe, let alone update on anything, so you'll have to forgive me...please? .**

**Anyway, here's another chapter for you! Enjoy~ (I'll be posting chapter 5 tonight as well~)**

**I don't own FMA~! (Wish I did, by God...)**

As Ed made his way down the creaky wooden stairs of the familiar home, he felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach. He didn't quite know how he was going to find a cure, he just knew that he had to. That was the story of his life, forever searching for something uncertain.

Al was the first to greet him as he walked through the threshold. "How was she?" he asked, the concern apparent even in his hollow armor. Ed looked at his brother, forcing a smile for the sake of the both of them.

"She's alright," Ed answered, avoiding his brother's gaze. Al could always tell when he was hiding something, but he figured he could get Ed to talk about it later, when they weren't so close to Pinako. There was no need to worry the old woman any further. It was a pointless effort though, as Pinako was as sharp as ever when it came to reading Ed like a book. The look in the boy's deep golden eyes made her extremely uneasy. She had been worried, and now that she saw that even Ed was concerned, she had every reason to be. Without a word, she left the room and went into the workshop in order to clear her mind before she had to prepare dinner.

"Alright, Al," began Ed quietly, "follow me." Al nodded, though he was a bit hesitant.

"Where are we going?" Al asked. He figured for sure that his brother would want to stay with Winry when she was this sick.

"To see Mustang," Ed replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He stormed out of the room, for once needing to talk to the condescending Colonel.

A few hours later, after asking at least a good dozen soldiers that were stationed about the town where he could find Roy, he was successful in gaining the information he needed and made his way to his destination.

"Brother," began Al after quite a long voyage of silence, "Winry will be okay, won't she?" Ed kept his gaze forward, not even flinching at Al's question. That didn't mean that it didn't make his heart ache, though.

"Of course she will," he assured Al fervently, getting fed up with wandering around in the damned heat. He found himself wondering why he hadn't taken his red coat off yet when he was sweating pullets. Inwardly cursing himself for being such an idiot, he practically ripped his coat off and slung it over his right arm, since it couldn't feel the extra warmth.

The brothers had reached a military base and began to look around for the Colonel. Ed didn't feel like talking to any of the military dogs, so when he was stopped and told to go home and play like a good little boy, it struck a nerve. Luckily for the soldier, Ed was much too exhausted from the heat and the walk to react as he normally would. Instead, he reached into his pocket wordlessly and flashed his pocket watch, nearly pulling it off the chain from the force he used. This earned him a quick salute and a nod, not giving Ed a chance to ask where Roy was before he walked away.

Ed and Al heard gun shot in the distance and looked to the direction where they were coming from, smiling at the familiar sight of Lieutenant Hawkeye. They made their way over, careful not to sneak up on her lest they become like her targets that she managed to mutilate with her perfect aim.

She saw them out of the corner of her eye and turned the safety on, setting the weapon down carefully. "Hello, boys," she said, her face barely breaking composure in order to give them a smile.

"Hey, Lieutenant," Ed replied, "do you know where the Colonel is?" He knew that she did, so it was kind of a stupid question. It was more of a question as to whether or not she would tell them.

She pointed to a nearby tent. "Right in there. I don't think you should go in there quite yet, though, they're discussing important matters." Little did she know, Ed didn't care in the slightest.

"Like what?" Al asked out of curiosity. Hawkeye picked her gun up once more, sighing as she aimed at the target.

"Quarantine," she answered simply. Ed's eyes shot open.

"That son of a-" he started, but his outburst was drowned out by the shot of Hawkeye's gun. He sprinted towards the tent, Al following behind hastily. Hawkeye continued to shoot, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

Throwing the flap out of the way, Ed stormed into the tent. The meeting came to a halt and the officers looked up to see what the commotion was. Roy made eye contact with Ed briefly, giving him a look that asked why the hell he was there.

"What's this about a quarantine?" Ed demanded, staring at only Roy as he spoke. The Colonel heaved a sigh and stood up.

"Nothing of your concern, Fullmetal," he answered coolly, attempting to shoo him out of the tent. Ed wouldn't have that. He may have been young, but he wasn't an infant, damn it.

"Shut up!" the young alchemist ordered, "Quarantine isn't going to help anything, and you all know it! All it's going to do is make your jobs easier!" He was screaming at the top of his lungs, and nobody had the right to interrupt him.

Roy's voice was low and urgent. "Calm down," he told him, "I'll fill you in after the meeting, alright?" Ed was furious, and if there hadn't been other officers in the tent, the Colonel would be picking himself off of the floor.

"Fine," he muttered, shaking his shoulder free from his superior and walking out of the tent. Once outside, he promptly kicked the nearest box, leaving a hole in it from the force of his metal leg. He wiped the splintered wood off of his foot and continued to be in a huff.

"Damn him," Ed mumbled under his breath after about ten minutes had passed. The meeting still wasn't over, and every minute felt like an hour for Ed. Al was once again attempting to be the voice of reason for his older brother.

"You shouldn't jump to conclusions, brother," he said timidly, "maybe it's not what you think." Ed was fuming and was in no mood for an optimistic attitude.

"I'm not jumping to anything!" he exclaimed, "I know that bastard well enough to know that nothing he's planning could be good for anyone but himself..." He didn't completely feel that way, but it got under his skin that he was shooed away like a damned child.

Al sighed, knowing that once his brother started brooding, there was no stopping him. Thankfully, the meeting ended a few minutes later, the Colonel being one of the last few to walk out of the tent.

Ed's face was glistening from sweat that had developed due to standing out in the sun in the heat of the day. "Well?" he questioned, glaring with as much spite as he could with how tired he was at this point.

Roy took a second to gather his thoughts, deciding how to word his next statement. "We discussed how quickly the disease seems to be spreading," he began, "It wasn't my decision, but some of the higher ups are ordering a quarantine of the victims." Roy barely got the sentence out before Ed's left foot broke into another wooden box. "Calm down, Edward," Roy advised.

"Shut up, Mustang, you're lucky that it's not your head..." he muttered. "I knew it," he seethed, clenching his fists. His breathing was shallow. "I knew that something like this would happen. Does...does that mean that there's no cure?"

Roy averted his gaze. "Not that I know of," he replied, "why do you ask?" Roy eyed him suspiciously then.

"Hell will freeze over before I tell you anything," Ed scoffed, turning his back to Roy. The Colonel's eyes only narrowed further.

"Edward, we suspect the disease is highly contagious. If you know something, you need to tell me," he said with the ever-familiar authority in his voice that he saved for his subordinates. Ed remained silent however, walking away. He had no intention whatsoever to tell his superior anything. Al stayed behind for a bit.

"Colonel," he started quietly, "is there really no cure?" Roy sighed, once again looking away.

"It's one of the Rockbells, isn't it?"

Al was surprised at the Colonel's intuition. He was about to explain when Ed shouted for Al to 'Get away from the lying bastard'. The younger brother mumbled a small 'sorry' for his brother's behavior before going to catch up to Ed. One thing was for sure, Roy knew where he would be heading later on...

Lieutenant Hawkeye had caught the gist of the argument and made her way over after the Elrics had left.

"Was that your way of voicing your opinion, Lieutenant?" questioned Roy. Hawkeye kept her composure, even if he had seen right through her plan.

"I have no idea that you're talking about, sir," she replied, getting back to the practice range. She wore a small smirk. So what if she had deliberately told Ed of the plans in an attempt to get them to interrupt the meeting and even compromise the mission? Her superior certainly didn't have to know that.

**There you have it, an update~! Be ready for another one as soon as I get it typed up. This is what I do when I'm avoiding mountains of homework~ Enjoy the product of my procrastination~! **


	6. Chapter 5: Too Late, Too Soon

**Oh goodness, another update? Clearly, the end of the world is upon us.**

**I don't own FMA, if I did, I'd be a cow...not sure how I'd feel about that. Enjoy?**

The walk back to the house seemed even longer than the one they had taken to look for Roy. Ed kept his eyes forward and his feet seemed to be on autopilot since receiving the news from Mustang. He tried his best to sort through his thoughts and figure out another way to obtain a cure for Winry and anyone else that needed it, for that matter.

Al was also thinking of the condition of their childhood friend. He had seen how the Colonel averted his eyes when he spoke with both he and his brother. Usually, he was very straightforward with Ed at least, probably because it was just how they had come to know each other, almost like a father and son. It wasn't as if Ed would ever admit it, though.

"That bastard," Ed muttered, proving Al's point that he had made inwardly. The young blonde absentmindedly kicked the dirt beneath his feet. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this upset, even with Roy.

The heat dragged on, causing Ed to wipe the sweat from his brow to stop it from reaching his eyes. He knew that Roy had lied to them. He always did the same thing when he was hiding something; he would avoid looking Ed in the eye and talk out of both sides of his mouth, never giving a straight answer.

"I don't care what he says," he grumbled under his breath, "I'm finding a cure." he wasn't about to let his higher ups stop him. He never had before, and he sure as hell wasn't about to start now.

At last, the yellow house upon the hill came into view, causing Ed's stomach to churn. How would he tell the Rockbells that he hadn't found anything yet? Not that he was going to give up, but he was feeling pretty low at the moment.

Stepping into the house, he saw that there was a small piece of paper on the door. It was a note from Granny Pinako.

_Hello, boys,_

_since you're reading this, it means you're home. I'm glad, because Winry needed more medicine that I had to pick up for her. She assured me that she would be alright alone, but please look after her. I'm counting on you._

_-Granny Pinako_

Ed raised a brow slightly, wondering why she hadn't just waited until the brothers had gotten there. Then again, relying on them to be in one place at a certain time was like pulling teeth. The elder brother shrugged it off, walking the rest of the way into the house and turning on a light since the sun had began to set.

His eyes widened. His heart was racing and for a moment, he couldn't move or speak.

"Winry!" he exclaimed, running to the side of the girl, who was collapsed on the ground, a small wound on her head bleeding. "Al, get some wet and dry rags!" The younger brother nodded briefly, rushing to do as he was told whilst Ed lifted Winry on to the couch. Examining the wound, he noticed that it wasn't all that bad and the bleeding had stopped. She had more than likely fallen, though she at first looked as if she had been attacked. Just to reassure himself, he checked her pulse and breathing. All of her vitals checked out, though her heart beat was a bit slow for his liking.

A moment later, Al came into the room with the rags and handed them to Ed who proceeded to clean off Winry's forehead carefully. All of a sudden, something clicked in his brain, causing him to stop in his actions. It was what Winry had told him before...about what would happen towards the end...

"A comatose state," he whispered almost incoherently. He clenched his jaw, shaking his head. No, he refused to believe that. It couldn't have happened yet, she probably just fainted from the fever or the medicine. Be became frustrated, since he couldn't even go to a doctor now, since she would be put into quarantine. Taking her away from him wasn't an option.

Shaking off the feeling of helplessness, he continued to clean her wound, dabbing it dry once he did so. A knock at the front door interrupted the elder brother's thoughts. He was instantly on guard. Whoever was behind that door couldn't have been good. He tried ignoring it, but the knock came again in a few moments in the form of pounding.

"In the name of the military, we have a warrant to search this house under the suspicions that on occupant is ill," came a voice from the outside. That was the last straw for Ed.

"Al," began Ed, "go upstairs and guard Winry. Hide her in your armor if you have to. I'll take care of the morons..." The younger brother nodded and took himself and Winry upstairs, leaving Ed to answer the door.

He opened it, wanting to do so before they broke in. "Can I help you?" he questioned in the calmest manner that he could stomach. There was still venom dropping from his voice as he spoke.

One of the officers spoke up a bit timidly. "We've been given the right and order to search this home and examine its occupants under the grounds that the ill must be quarantined and-"

"Yeah yeah, I heard all of that," Ed said, cutting him off. "And who ordered that this house be searched?" If the officer said Colonel Mustang, heads were going to roll.

"Um," staggered the young man, "First Lieutenant Rutherford." The other officers nodded in agreement, looking as official and threatening as possible.

"I see," Ed replied, leaning against the door frame and casually pulling out his silver pocket watch, flashing it at the three men. From the looks of their uniforms, none of them were a higher rank than Private, so Ed was able to do the thing that he hated most; pull rank.

"Do me a favor and tell Lieutenant Rutherford that if he tries to search this house again, I'll personally see to it that he and all of his men are court marshaled," he said, eying each officer, "under the order of Major Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist." And with that, he smirked, slamming the door in their faces and leaving them dumbfounded.

Though he hated himself for it, his smirk wasn't that of his own. It was to much like Mustang's. He was glad that he had the power to do what he had just done, though. Normally, Ed wouldn't go on a power trip like that, but it had been the first time that his rank in the military had actually been of any use to him.

Just to be safe, he locked the door. Any customers that came by right now couldn't be helped anyway. With that, he made his way up the stairs quickly to check on Winry. When he arrived in her room, he told Al that he could relax, since the younger Elric had taken it upon himself to stand in front of the doorway, nearly attacking Ed from the surprise of the door opening. The elder brother sat down in the same chair that he had earlier and put his left hand over Winry's forehead.

"Damn," he muttered, removing his hand and slamming his fist into his leg out of frustration. "Her fever's not that bad..."

Al was thoroughly confused at this point. "How is that a bad thing, brother?" he asked, not understanding Ed's logic, par usual.

"I was hoping that she had fainted from the fever," he explained, though he doubted his brother would understand that either. He checked Winry's vital signs once again and noticed that her pulse was still weak and sluggish. "No..." he whispered, clenching his fists before suddenly standing. He couldn't help it, his anger was in control and he could only see red. "NO!" As he shouted, he picked up the chair that he had been sitting in and threw it against the opposite wall, just barely missing Winry's oversized tool box. How could this have happened? She had been alright when they left, they had been talking...It felt as if a nightmare was engulfing Ed, taking his hopes with him.

Al hesitantly moved towards his brother in an attempt to calm him. "Brother, you shouldn't get so angry," he started but was quickly interrupted.

"This is my fault, I have every right to be mad!" he shouted, glaring daggers at Al. He was only angry at himself, but Al still backed off. His brother's gaze was hardly ever so intense.

"Maybe if you just explain to me why you're suddenly so upset, I could help you," Al offered quietly. Ed's head dropped slightly, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes.

"I'm losing her, Al," he told him, his voice shaking. "This is the last symptom in the disease before..." he paused, not even willing to sting his tongue with the acid that those words would bring. Ed's throat ached and his stomach twisted. He felt nauseous, so he sat down on the cold hardwood floor, considering he didn't have a chair anymore.

Just as he was actually beginning to get a few deep breaths, there was another knock at the door. Hoping that it would just be a customer this time, Ed stood up and headed down the stairs to answer the door. He unlocked it and swung it open rather violently. His nostrils flared and his lips curled at the sight.

There, standing with a cool, blasé expression, was none other than Colonel Roy Mustang.

**Oh, what could possibly go wrong! I wonder if Roy will keep his teeth through this encounter. Ed might have something to say about it...**

**Reviews are much appreciated~!**


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